Renegade Folk in Sherwood Forest

As I mentioned here Gilly lives near Nottingham.  When I found out about it, our conversation went something like this:

Joey: Like Nottingham Nottingham?

Gilly: Is there another Nottingham?

Joey: Probably, in southern Ontario.  They don’t let a good name go to waste just because it’s already been used by somewhere more important.  Like, Sheriff of Nottingham?

Gilly: I suppose.  Why?

Joey: Like, there’s a Sherwood Forest nearby?

Gilly: …(Well, we were on the phone, so I couldn’t see it, but I’m rather familiar with the silence that indicates my question is stupid and she’s rolling her eyes. Gimtmbifhbsic)

Joey:  So, can we go to Sherwood Forest?

Gilly: Sure.  Is that all you want to do?

Joey: IT’S ROBIN HOOD WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?

And to shut me up, Gilly took me to the forest.

Sherwood Forest does have some Robin Hood things attached to it, but they’ve also done a good job of preserving its natural majesty.  There’s a couple of gift shops, a tiny museum, and an overpriced restaurant, but there’s a lot of forest you can wander through that have nothing to do with those things.  And there are cool, ancient things in that forest.

Some are man made, like this carved stump.

There’s also signs that people are using it to pass on survival training.  For example, I found this shelter just off the path:

But with no pine trees!

I think it’s pretty cool that a lot of naturalism and conservationism is taught here.  After all, if Robin Hood had to live in the woods, and that meant he needed to know how to survive.  Someone’s still teaching it around here. … or living in the forest.

Then there’s the Major’s Oak:

It's kind of a big deal

That tree is over a thousand years old, maybe twelve hundred.  It’s ten meters in circumference around the trunk, and you can’t get within thirty meters of it.  The fence was put up because in the sixties, it became a major tourist attraction.  By the seventies, visitors had trampled up to it, injuring the roots and nearly killing the tree.  Conservation experts insisted on the fence, and now the tree is healthy again. 

Seriously, 1200 years old.  Think about that.  That’s older than countries.  That tree is absolutely astonishing.

I think oak trees are cool.  I mean, look at their leaves and acorns:

Also note Gilly's skillful hand modelling.

Those leaves are super cool.  There’s nothing like that here.  Plus, the make excellent resting places.

I could of sleep here all day. I tried, telling Gilly I just need a few more shots of me sleeping.

They are a mighty and noble tree.  And a worthy opponent.  So I challenged them to a duel.

And I took its three hundred year old Quickening

On a final note, I did go to the gift shop, and I found this, which is a super kind of awesome:

I also make a good hand model.

Whiskey fudge doesn’t taste like whiskey.  It tastes good.

And that’s all I have to say about England.